Don’t Listen to False Prophets

Rev. Andy Wright, pastor at St. John Lutheran Church in Keystone, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Jeremiah 23:9-40.

The LORD gives Jeremiah a word to speak against the lying prophets. Their false preaching has gone hand-in-hand with their godless living, leading the people of Judah astray. The LORD warns His people not to listen to these false prophets, for the hope they offer is all in vain. The LORD must be the One to send His preachers in order to give His hearers the assurance that they are hearing not the word of man, but the Word of God. However, these false prophets were not sent by God at all. Therefore, they will not escape the LORD’s judgment. He will use His Law to condemn and to judge. By their false preaching, they have become the burden that the LORD must cast off. In these words of judgment, the LORD shows us what He does desire by the true preaching of His Word: bring His people to true repentance and faith.

“A Time to Destroy and a Time to Build” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the book of Jeremiah. The prophet calls the people of Judah and Jerusalem to repent of their faithless idolatry and warns them of the destruction that is coming in the Babylonian exile. Yet Jeremiah does not leave us without hope in the midst of such dark days. Jeremiah and all who believe the Word of God he preached survive because of hope that is found in the righteous Branch from the line of David, Jesus Christ.